


5 Things Joel taught Ellie

by Its_Raineing_Words



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: 5 Things, 5 Times, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Gen Work, One Shot, Survival Training, Teaching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 08:57:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6148300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_Raineing_Words/pseuds/Its_Raineing_Words
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And one thing Ellie taught Joel</p>
            </blockquote>





	5 Things Joel taught Ellie

1.

“Alright, so, when you make camp for the night where would you make it?” Joel had started to let Ellie make more decisions, but she didn’t know whether that was a good thing.  
“Um...somewhere low, right? So we stay hidden?” Ellie had no idea where to make a camp in truth, and the look on Joel’s face clearly said that her choice had to have made him aware of that.  
“Nope. You’ve gotta stay high and dry, especially if you’re out in nature like we are. Flash floods get their name for a reason, they’re fucking quick, so it’s best to stay well away from anywhere that could be flooded.” Joel said patiently.  
“Oh, um, well that makes sense.” She said a little bashfully; she hated looking stupid in front of people. Him especially.  
“Now you know, I can’t expect you to know this stuff, it’s not like they would have taught you it in the Zone.” He said not unkindly. “Right, where would you set up camp now that you know?”  
He’s letting me decide where to go? Fuck yeah! “Um...so there’s a rock ledge thing over there, that looks like a good place. High up but not too high, yeah? Plus the ledge above that one will keep the rain off of us.”  
“Yep, I woulda picked that spot too.” With that, he started walking over to said spot leaving Ellie to trail behind like always.

2.

“You’ll come across two kinds of water in the wild,” Joel said as he bent down to light the fire, “Potable water that’s already purified, and water that can kill you. When it comes to questionable water—essentially anything that’s been on the ground long-term, like puddles and streams—your best option is boiling it which is 100 percent effective in killing pathogens.”  
“What if you can’t boil it, though?” See, Joel? I want to learn; I’m not useless.  
“Well, rainwater is good, no need to boil that if you collect it straight from the source. There are plants you can get water out of too; I’ll show ‘em to you if I see any.” Joel looked over at her as he spoke.  
“You’d better, I don’t wanna die of dehydration anytime soon.” 

3\. 

“Shh...get down. Clickers!” He hissed, pulling her to his side by her sleeve.  
“Fuck! What do we do?” Ellie poked her over the desk to two of the monstrosities lurching about violently in seemingly random directions, clicking all the while.  
Joel fished a glass bottle out of his backpack, a bottle of all things. Her incredulity must have shown on her face. “Trust me on this.”  
He threw the bottle out of the room and down the hallway, it smashed and the clickers screamed and sprinted towards the sound.  
“Fuck, let’s go, Joel.” They sprinted away, not looking back.

4.

“You’re fucking with me, Joel. You’ve gotta be, there is no way they wore their clothes only once. That’s is the most stupid shit I’ve ever heard.” Ellie laughed, glad that Joel was speaking to her more.  
“Yeah, well, I’m not about to disagree with you about the stupid part but they did. If they wore the clothes they wore to an award show again magazines would do articles on them sayin’ they were cheap.” A small smirk tugged at his lips which made her smile more.  
“Alright, I still think you’re lying but I can’t prove you wrong so…” Ellie said.  
“Next time I see one of those stupid magazines I’ll show you.” He replied.  
You better had, I wanna see that shit. Plus, this might just be the start of you actually liking me.

5.

“Ellie! Ellie! Wake up!” Joel was shaking her roughly, worry pulling his features into a grimace.  
“Fuck! Riley!...Joel?” Ellie was shaking, red-rimmed eyes were staring up at him but not really seeing.  
“It’s me, you’re in Jackson. Safe.” He was trying to comfort her but it just made her cry more.  
“Joel! It was so real, she was right there saying all this shit. Her face…” She was crying again and Joel had no idea how to deal with it.  
“It’s not real, none of it is. I know your mind is trying to make you feel bad but it’s not real. You’re safe, I’d never let anything happen, you know that.” He said earnestly.  
“I do, I just can’t help but feel it was my fault, you know?” She looked so young then it hurt.  
“Hey, it’s all the past. You did all you could and more. Now, I happen to know that we still have some honey left, do you want some milk and honey?” Please let this cheer her up.  
“Yes please.” 

6\. 

“Hey, Joel! Guess what day it is?” Ellie grinned.  
“I dunno, but I suspect you’ll tell me.” Joel groaned.  
“Your birthday! It was such an easy question as well.” She whined, frowning at him.  
“Ellie...can we not do this right now?” The last thing he wanted to think about was his birthday, considering when it was.  
“Come on, Joel! I know you don’t like thinking about certain things but your birthday should not be one of them.” She said.  
Joel said nothing, just glared at her.  
“Fuck, Joel!” Ellie threw her hands up in frustration, “You said to me that you had to keep finding something to fight for, right? Yeah, well that includes living your life as much as you can. Don’t just stop celebrating your birthday because of the past. Would Sarah want that?”  
“Ellie…” He warned.  
“Well, would she?” She glared.  
“No, I suppose not.” Sarah was the sort of kid to want to get everything back to normal as soon as possible.  
“Good. Now, do you want to see your present now?” Ellie looked terribly smug but Joel didn’t have it in him to be annoyed.  
“Alright. It’d better be good, though.”  
“Don’t doubt me, old man. I know what I’m doing.”  
“Whatever you say, kiddo.”

**Author's Note:**

> It took me so long to finish this and I have no idea why.
> 
> Update: Edited 19/2/17


End file.
